Students will produce a networked game that will leverage sensors on the phone to create a unique gaming experience. The focus of the game will be to make it physical through real-world gestures, motion and knowledge of other players real-world location. To do this students will need to integrate knowledge of graphics, networking, sensors, and user interface design alongside a skill set of tool usage. The final project will involve milestones with opportunities to get ungraded peer review feedback from fellow learners so that they can iterate and improve their game program. The final networked game that the students produce would be something they could showcase in job application materials, in an interview, or offer in the iTunes store.
Overview
Syllabus
- The Project and the Plan
- In this module we go through the project that you will be working on for this capstone class. We look at the details of what the requirements are and talk a little bit about how to go about finding some of the assets that you might want to use. The first week is all about planning and designing.
- Basic Scaffold Implementation
- This week we work on scaffolding the project. We set out the design target last week, now we peer review last week's work and start to code. Stay flexible, but let's start building
- Gameplay View
- This week we nail down the touch interaction and the sensor implementation. We want to keep working on all aspects of your design, but this week you need to turn in the handling of your input, from the user and from the world. Also make sure you use our MotionHUD Cocoapod so we can see what you are doing in the recordings that you turn in
- Level Up
- Let's take it to the next level! This week, as you continue to improve the stability and overall implementation of your game, we want to make sure that you hit the requirements for sound and particle systems. These are probably pretty easy things to add to your game (depending on your game!) so use the slack to make progress on the other aspects of your game. Maybe add an extra level if your game has levels.
- Win / Lose / Achievements / Play Test
- This might be a big week. There are 3 things we are doing this week, adding a game completion screen, implementing achievements, and .... drumroll..... letting someone else (a real human) that you know play it. We want to here what you find out. Playtesting is an important part of any game. User testing in general is a very important part of any user interaction design process. Don't procrastinate, this might be more work than you realize. Let's give it a shot!
- Game Play Clean Up
- It's time to clean up the loose ends. This is your chance to add the preferences screen and to make sure that you have implemented all of the requirements mentioned in the very beginning. This is your last full week to just code, so make it work.
- Homestretch
- It's show time. The MIT media lab is famous for a motto, "Demo or die!". They mean that if you can't demo your technology then you won't graduate. The stakes aren't *that* high here, but it is time to show us what you have done. Your job this week is to put the final polish on your game and record a game trailer. This is like a movie trailer, but it focusses on showing us that you met the requirements. Hopefully there is a little drama and excitement too. Time to make your work shine!
- Capstone Completion
- This is the very end! Thanks for joining us on this long journey. You get to see what all your peers produced this week. Maybe one of them will be in the iTunes store soon. On behalf of Sam and I, it's been an honor to be your teachers!
Taught by
Don Patterson and Sam Kaufman
